An heir to the Sackler drug fortune is reportedly hiding out in a ritzy Swiss ski resort. The move comes as the family fortune is pieced apart by thousands of lawsuits amid a drug crisis in the U.S.
Mortimer and Jacqueline Sackler have retreated to Gstaad for the winter after being shunned by U.S. high society, according to U.S. outlet «Guest of a Guest». The couple is part of the second generation of the controversial family behind Purdue Pharma, which produces a painkiller at the center of a U.S. drug epidemic.
The drugmaker filed for bankruptcy protection last year, in a bid for time to win support for a $10 billion settlement it wants with cities, counties, and states in the U.S. The company and the Sacklers face more than 2,600 lawsuits alleging they helped fuel the U.S. opioid crisis.
Closed Doors
Mortimer Jr. is reportedly on the board of Purdue, the company his father propelled into a billion-dollar juggernaut. The Sacklers have been generous patrons of the arts, but have run into closed doors lately.
Even Gstaad, a luxury resort in the Bernese Alps which has long drawn the rich and famous including Valentino and Madonna, is taking a stand: an annual classical music festival in the alpine resort waived $25,000 courtesy of Theresa Sackler, the widow of one of three brothers who bought Purdue in 1952.
Swiss «Winter Term»
Mortimer Jr. and his wife Jacqueline emailed friends they would be spending «winter term» in Gstaad after selling their Manhatten townhouse for a reported $38 million but denied they are moving to Switzerland permanently.
«We would love to see you either in Gstaad if you are here or nearby, or elsewhere in Europe (taking advantage of the ease of travel here vs ours in New York City),» the outlet reported from the email. The Sacklers have deep ties to Gstaad: Mortimer Sr. died in the resort town in 2010. A spokesman for the couple said they intend to return to the U.S. in the near future.
A prosecutor in New York alleges the Sacklers transferred as much as $1 billion to Swiss accounts – the family has maintained the money flows were «perfectly legal and appropriate in every respect».
